In ink-jet printing technology, a printhead, comprising a plurality of nozzles in a nozzle plate, is fluidically associated with a reservoir of ink. The printhead is mounted on one end of a print cartridge and the reservoir is provided inside the cartridge. Reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,836, issued to Ta et al. on Jul. 5, 1988, and assigned to Hewlett-Packard Company.
An interconnect means is provided, which carries electrical signals from a microprocessor in the printer to the printhead. For thermal ink-jet printers, these signals provide a current to resistors associated with the nozzles and thus control the heating of specific resistors, which in turn form droplets of ink. The droplets of ink are expelled through the nozzles toward a print medium, such as paper. The particular pattern of resistor heating controls the pattern of characters formed on the print medium.
The print cartridge is supported in a carriage, which is adapted to move bidirectionally, normal to the movement of the print medium through the printer. The carriage movement is controlled by a motor and an associated belt drive, with the motor controlled by the microprocessor.
Insertion of an ink-jet cartridge into the carriage often necessitates use of two hands or two operations. Further, many cartridge/carriage configurations do not provide simultaneous alignment of the nozzle plate in the X, Y, and Z directions. Finally, contact between the printhead and the interconnect means must be reliably made, in order to ensure proper nozzle firing.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide a cartridge/carriage assembly that includes the foregoing advantages without the limitations of the prior art.